The Orville/Season 1
Season 1 debuted on September 10, 2017 to 8.56 million viewers, the most-watched series premiere on Fox since Empire in 2015."The Orville: Season One Ratings". TVSeriesFinale.com. Online. https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/the-orville-season-one-ratings/ (Last accessed Dec. 6, 2017). It was renewed for a second season on November 2 of that year.Nellie Andreeva. "'The Orville' Renewed For Season 2 By Fox". Deadline. Nov. 2, 2017. Online. http://deadline.com/2017/11/the-orville-renewed-for-season-2-fox-seth-macfarlane-1202200369/. The Orville's first season was intended for a limited 13-episode run. However, on November 14, Fox confirmed that it would move the twelfth episode to the second season.Tim Surette. "The Orville's Season Will be Cut Short". TVGuide. Nov. 14, 2017. Online. http://www.tvguide.com/news/the-orville-season-1-episode-count/ While Fox did not comment on its decision, the move is not unusual for the company. Summary The first season opens in the fall of 2418 to Ed Mercer discovering his wife, Kelly Grayson, in bed with Darulio, which sets off the events of The Orville. In September, 2419, Ed is promoted to Captain of the [[USS Orville|USS Orville]] and Kelly assigned as his First Officer.Episode 1: Old Wounds Aided by a crew of talented, if surprisingly normal, officers, they receive missions from the Planetary Union; explore space, planets, and other civilizations; and battle their foe, the Krill. Ed and Kelly's relationship fundamentally evolves. Ed is initially hostile to Kelly, but learns to trust her as an officer and as a friend. Kelly is remorseful of her affair but prizes her duties to the ship above all else. In the winter of 2420, Ed and Kelly are forced to work with Darulio to end the Navarian-Bruidian conflict, during which Ed learns that she may have been under the influence of Darulio's powerful sex pheromones, and he slowly begins to forgive her.Episode 9: Cupid's Dagger Around April, Ed learns that it was Kelly's appeals to Union admiralty that won him the captain's seat. Initially resentful that he was promoted not by the strength of his resume but by backdoor politicking, he accepts that "no man is an island" and that the help of his friends should be welcomed, not spurned.Episode 11: New Dimensions Ed and Kelly briefly date around April or May, 2420, but they end their nascent relationship after Ed's ability to command is compromised by his feelings for her.Episode 12: Mad Idolatry The relationship of Second Officer Bortus and his mate Klyden is seriously tested. The birth of a female daughter, Topa, sparks a rift between them when Klyden demands her sex be surgically altered to male. After a lengthy Tribunal on Moclus, Klyden wins and Topa undergoes the procedure. Bortus and Klyden remain together but they frequently fight and Klyden starts obsessively overeating. Chief of Security Alara Kitan receives her first senior officer position on the Orville with Ed. She starts an anxious and inexperienced - if capable - young officer, but she is soon thrust into the Captain's chair and wins the Sapphire Star for leadership. In March 2420, Alara controversially runs a dangerous program in the Environmental Simulator to test herself, but Ed spares her from a formal reprimand. Alara matured from a green Chief of Security to a seasoned Bridge officer. Navigator John LaMarr begins his tenure under Captain Mercer as a laid-back officer, but Kelly discovers he is a brilliant officer and begins a private campaign to promote John to Chief Engineer. Ed is skeptical, the Navigator was often responsible for immature jokes and churlish pranks, but is won over when John rescues the Orville from incoming enemy Krill. John is promoted shortly thereafter, much to Lieutenant Yaphit's chagrin. The season concludes some time around April or May, 2420. Trailer Fox produced a nearly-three minute promotional trailer published on May 15, 2017 that functioned as a teaser for both the series premiere, Old Wounds, and the season. The trailer focused on many of the comedic elements of the series through humorous highlights of the first four episodes, as well as some action sequences. Interpretations and themes Writing and production staff developed the show's storylines episodically. Episodes were constructed to examine fundamental moral themes or character development, or to encourage the audience to re-evaluate certain aspects of culture. Every episode touches on many themes, and some episodes can fit multiple interpretive categories. * The episodes Command Performance, Firestorm, and New Dimensions focus on themes of self-doubt, leadership, and trust in oneself or in others. * Krill ''and ''Mad Idolatry look at the confluence and clash of religion and moral progress. The technologically developed Krill are also extremely religious, which motivates them to commit atrocities in the name of Avis, their supreme deity. The people of the multiphasic planet construct a religion around Kelly, but lose faith in gods "naturally" as they evolve as a society. The Krill society is often contrasted against the multiphasic planet species as responding to similar circumstances in radically different ways. * If the Stars Should Appear shows the rise of religion and a slide towards tyranny as technology breaks down. An extreme form of religion is enforced on the Dorahl bioship to maintain power in Hamelac's government. The Church of Kelly in Mad Idolatry violently imposes belief in order to maintain control. * About a Girl ''evaluates sexual and gender mores of contemporary society, especially American society, through the eyes of an alien, all-male Moclan society imposing its will on Topa. * ''Majority Rule ''examines the harms of social media and an emotional, "facts-less" society that punishes anyone who is unlucky enough to fall into its sights. * The episodes ''Into the Fold and Cupid's Dagger are primarily character-developing: the former shows the strength of Doctor Claire Finn, the maturation of Marcus and Ty Finn, and the humanization of an artificial being; the latter fleshes out details of Ed and Kelly's past. However, the pilot, Old Wounds, is considered "ground-laying," in that the world of the Orville is established for audiences for the first time, and therefore focuses less on metaphorical or ethical themes. Production On April, 2016, creator Seth MacFarlane successfully pitched the pilot to Fox, the company ordered 13 episodes to air in the Fall with the possibility of a backorder of 13 more episodes for Spring."SDCC2017 The Orville, EP's David. A Goodman, Jason Clark, & Brannon Braga Interview". FanboyNation. July 25, 2017. He quickly wrote a second script (probably Command Performance or If the Stars Should Appear) and colleague David A. Goodman helped him with a third (what became About a Girl).Bond, Jeff. The World of the Orville. Titan Books. 2018. Pg. 8. When he completed About a Girl's script, MacFarlane enlisted Goodman and Brannon Braga as executive producers and writers, and assembled a writing staff of Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Wellesley Wild, Liz Heldens, and André Bormanis, which Goodman later described as a team of "half comedy writers and half drama writers." While the writing staff developed new scripts, MacFarlane began expanding the team to include other production roles, enlisting the people who would become the heads of various departments: Jon Favreau was signed to direct the pilot episode, Stephen J. Lineweaver as production designer, Marvin V. Rush as cinematographer, Natasha Francis as the visual effects producer, Luke McDonald as visual effects supervisor, Howard Berger as makeup artist, and Joseph Porro as wardrobe designer.Bond, Jeff. The World of the Orville. Titan Books. 2018. Pg. 11. Filming and post-production Filming began on January 13, 2017 at 6:30 AM and ended August 23.@planetary_union. "Happy Independence Day U.S. fans! Today’s @TheOrville behind the scenes photo is a little different than you’re used to. This is part of the call sheet from the 1st day of shooting for Season 1! #TheOrville #PUNcast #bts #FoxStudios #Television #PilotEpisode". Twitter. July 4, 2018. The pilot Old Wounds aired only several weeks later on September 10. Editing of the episodes continued at least through November 20, 2017, when Goodman and MacFarlane admitted that they were still editing the final episode, Mad Idolatry."Brannon Braga & The Orville Cast Full interview 2017 Panel NYC convention". NYC ComicCon. Nov. 20, 2017. The visual and digital effects teams allotted twelve days for each episode for post-production editing, a schedule they discovered was too tight. The second season was broken into thirds, with a month-long hiatus in between to grant the teams more editing time. Some episodes were edited even as late as the same day they aired."The Orville Fan Podcast w/ The Visual Effects Team". Planetary Union Network. May 23, 2018. The season order during early production was very different from what aired. Originally, About a Girl was second, If the Stars Should Appear third, and Command Performance ''fourth, and the twelfth episode was [[Primal Urges|''Primal Urges]]."The Orville Fan Podcast w/ Jason Roberts (The Orville Unit Production Manager)". Planetary Union Network. April 19, 2018. If the Stars Should Appear ''performed poorly with test audiences and was moved to the fourth slot. A plot point where Bortus leaves to brood his egg was added to ''Command Performance, which segued neatly to About a Girl's story. New scenes were added to adjust for continuity, such as Bortus and Klyden arguing in their bedroom at the start of If the Stars Should Appear. However, some incongruous scenes remained. For example, Doctor Claire Finn mentions that Lieutenant Yaphit has wooed her for some time in About a Girl but seems unfamiliar with his motives in If the Stars Should Appear. Fox moved Primal Urges ''to the second season in November, 2017 for unknown reasons. Reception Seth MacFarlane was delighted by the response of fans to Season 1: "I was waiting to see if people would tolerate actual storytelling and whether they were going to say, 'Shut up, and keep the jokes coming.' I was pleasantly surprised that people were willing to let us be what we wanted to be.""Seth MacFarlane And Orville Cast On Season 2: Evolution And Expansion | SDCC 2018 | SYFY WIRE". ''SyFy Wire. July 23, 2018. List of episodes Season 1 Season 1 Awards In addition to the list below, Fox unsuccessfully submitted the following to the Emmy Awards for nomination consideration: The Orville for best drama series; Seth MacFarlane for best actor; Adrianne Palicki and Penny Jerald Johnson for best supporting actress; Chad L. Coleman, Scott Grimes, and Peter Macon for best supporting actor; and Rob Lowe for best guest actor.Beachum, Chris. "Emmys 2018 exclusive: 20th Century Fox Television categories for ‘This Is Us,’ ‘Modern Family,’ ‘The Orville,’ ‘The Simpsons’ and more". GoldDerby. May 14, 2018. Credits Main Cast * Seth MacFarlane as Cpt. Ed Mercer * Adrianne Palicki as Cmdr. Kelly Grayson * Peter Macon as Lt. Cmdr. Bortus * Halston Sage as Lt. Alara Kitan * J. Lee as Lt., later Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr * Mark Jackson as Isaac * Penny Johnson Jerald as Dr. Claire Finn Crew Executive Producers * Seth MacFarlane * Brannon Braga * Jason Clark * David A. Goodman * Liz Heldens * Jon Favreau (Old Wounds) Co-executive Producers * Cherry Chevapravatdumrong * Howard Griffith * Wellesley Wild Co-producers * Paul Orehovec * Joy Fehily * Grace Whitehouse * James E. Williams * Lori Motyer (Old Wounds) Supervising Producer * André Bormanis Associate Producer * Aaron McPherson Line Producer * Howard Griffith Consultant * Jon Favreau Science Consultant * André Bormanis Cinematographers * Marvin V. Rush (Command Performance ''through ''New Dimensions) * Kramer Morgenthau (Old Wounds) * Bing Sokolsky (Mad Idolatry) Editors * Tom Costantino (Old Wounds, If the Stars Should Appear ''through ''Into the Fold, New Dimensions, Mad Idolatry) * Shonnard Hedges (About a Girl, If the Stars Should Appear, Majority Rule, Firestorm ''through ''Mad Idolatry) * Scott Powell (Command Performance, Krill, Cupid's Dagger through Mad Idolatry) * Bart Rachmill (Cupid's Dagger) Casting by * Gail Goldberg (Old Wounds, Command Performance) * Sheila Jaffe (Old Wounds, Command Performance) Production Designer * Stephen Lineweaver Art Directors * Robert Strohmaier (Into the Fold ''through ''Mad Idolatry) * Bryan Felty (Old Wounds) Set Decorators * Kathy Orlando (Command Performance ''through ''Krill, Mad Idolatry) * Ellen Totleben (Into the Fold ''through ''Mad Idolatry) Costume Designer * Joseph Porro Makeup Department Makeup and Special Make-up effects * Howard Berger * Tami Lane * Jake Garber * Danny Wagner * Cary Ayers * Steven E. Anderson * Carlton Coleman * Karen Iverson * Christopher Allen Nelson * Jacenda Burkett * Suzanne Diaz * Bruce Spaulding Fuller * Garrett Immel * Brian Kinney Hair Department * Maxine Morris * Patricia Gundlach * Lauren Ernsdorf * Laura LaRocca * Kristen Saia Concept Artist * Michael Broom Contact Lens Painter * Cristina Patterson Production Management Unit Production Managers * Howard Griffith Production Supervisor * Ryan Ford Post-production Supervisor * Andre Danylevich First Assistant Directors * Jason Roberts * Gary S. Rake * Anderson Vilien Second Assistant Directors * Stephanie Tull * Kasia Trojak Second Second Assistant Directors * Anderson Vilien * Kasia Trojak * Tristan Ringenoldus * Timothy Muir See also * Seasons * Episodes References Category:Season 1 1